The co-located FeneVision and V6 user conference was held June 2-5, 2024, in Cleveland, Ohio.
What the conference consisted of
On Monday, June 3, FeneVision and V6 kicked off the first full day of its annual user conference.
"The average company switches software every seven years. Sure enough, among this year’s participants, roughly half of FeneVision and V6 users have more than seven years of history with their software. It was amazing to see how many companies have been with FeneVision and V6 multiples of that average—many exceeded the 14-year and 21-year marks, showing commitment for two and three times the industry standard. These companies have grown substantially in those years, and FeneVision and V6 have grown with them," says Ron Crowl, general manager of windows, doors and glass at Cyncly.
Highlights of the first day included:
- Three What’s New sessions highlighted major features to help increase profits by reducing non-value-add work, increase customer relationships, and/or create a more efficient shop floor.
- V6 Dealer Educational Track: Demonstration of V6’s dealer module provided a walkthrough of how aluminum manufacturers can expose dealers to an online quoting tool with their products configured.
- FeneVision WEB FeneVision Educational Track: Demonstration of the rewritten WEB and WEB Admin applications used as a dealer portal for manufacturers to expose CPQ to their customers.
- FeneVision Storefront Designer Deep Dive: The first insight into the newly created storefront module. This allows users to visually create a storefront on a single line item, align components in a couple of clicks, and utilize all of the downstream FeneVision features and functionality for pricing, capacity planning, production optimization and more.
On day two, expert-led software sessions included technical tips and tricks, industry-specific educational tracks, access to 15 sponsors from nine companies, and roundtable discussions that helped users get the most out of FeneVision and V6. The day started with a presentation by the conference’s premium sponsor, SoftSolution-LiteSentry-Strainoptics, with a presentation on quality inspection machinery, including LineScanner, Osprey 10 Basic and the BowScanner.
Product Marketing Manager Ryan Anderson led a series of roundtable discussions with each user persona to identify manual processes that can be streamlined or eliminated in pursuit of better team performance and more effective customer support. Groups discussed the best process solutions, sharing ideas, and product requests to reduce or eliminate the non-value-added work.
“It was the highlight of my year to engage in these discussions, and I’m excited to extend some of these sessions into post-conference working groups with our VP of Product, Craig Morris,” says Anderson.
The FeneVision and V6 user conference wrapped up its three-day learning and training session on Wednesday, June 5. One hundred, forty-five attendees from 64 companies had access to educational sessions and opportunities for networking, including opportunities to learn technical tips and tricks that they can put into practice in their own businesses. Every participant received copies of all 71 presentations at the conclusion of the event as well as the hardware, security and hosted solutions presentation, which will soon be re-created in a remote webinar.
Day three wrapped up 71 presentations taking place in five rooms of simultaneous content. Events included:
- An educational track for a walkthrough of the software as a user that offers tips and tricks along the way.
- A deep dive for FeneVision W&D, FeneVision Glass and W&D V6 users.
- A roundtable chat session organized for each user persona that works in software solutions every day to better understand pain points, share tips and tricks between users, and gain insights on where the product can go next to make their lives easier and run more efficiently.
On-site feedback
FeneTech describes the mood on-site as engaged and energizing, with users and product experts sharing perspectives and insights.
“This conference has been one of the best investments we’ve made. All three of our team will be returning for the next one,” says Alex Hansen, director of digital technologies, Arcadia.
“Learning how to extract data for marketing and product management alone makes this entire trip,” says Wendi Koshley of Weiland.
A focus on security
Throughout the event, presenters and attendees highlighted the need to secure proprietary information, protect customer data and maintain uptime. “Ransomware is one of the most significant threats we face today,” says Matt Buchanan, senior director of R&D, Cyncly Windows, Doors and Glass solutions. “It is crucial to prioritize the security of your network and devices. I spoke with several attendees with concerns about how to ensure upper management understands the risks described in my presentation today. They were looking forward to having the presentation slides available to share with ownership.”
